Flying the coup in retail

From all of us pharmacists to the rest of the world, I introduce the hate list. Feel free to add to it (within reason)

1. To everyone who decided they DIDNT need a flu shot in the fall and now falls prey to media panic…we hate you….and your pissy attitude when we tell you we are now out of stock. Where were you in October when I had literally 1500 doses sitting in the fridge…and lots of staff to help. We are back to normal labor model and yes it will take an hour to process that shot….if we had any. Youve already told me youve been to 4 pharmacies. Why would I be any different?

2. To the insurance companies fail to issue cards before the new year…We hate you. And to CVS CAREMARK who refuses to provide that information to the customers over the phone ( only to me) We hate you more. Its THEIR information! GIVE IT TO THEM. Do you really think I have time to call you 15 times a day to get processing information because your lazy processing department cant get cards out timely?

3. to patients who HAVE received new cards and dont bring them to me…We hate you. Getting angry at me because I filled your prescription for cash because your plan terminated 12-31-13 isn’t going to change the price. AND if you had checked your voice mail BEFORE traipsing over here, you’d have a very polite message from moi reminding you of that fact.

4. My employer to had a colossal snafu in the computer system and wiped out 6 years of doctors information…we hate you. It looks pretty stupid to have a doctor with a Tennessee address and a local phone number..which we cannot update because of some crazy national data base rule. So technically we fill a prescription with inaccurate prescriber info. Thanks.

5. to anybody who waited til monday to refill their prescriptions and wants it RIGHT NOW..we hate you. We can do amazing things, but not on YOUR time schedule. we have to use MINE. And 30 people cannot wait for their prescription and get it in 10 minutes. The first day of the week, first week of month AND year is the perfect storm for all retail pharmacies. Toss in flu mania and its ugly.

6. To ANY insurance company who requires transmitted information that is not on their card…we hate you. Yup, its you again CVS CAREMARK. If you put a card with an ID number of 00045321 and then verbally tell me I need 5 leading zeros instead of 3 then shame on you and every member of your overstuffed organization. A big puss filled boil on all your butts.

7. And while I am having a hate fest with insurers, let me add this one more. To you who require generic substitution but then charge the same brand name copay because its still expensive. We hate you. You aren’t making any friends with your clients or patients when their Cymbalta costs them 50.00 as a single source product but then 50.00 as generic too. Sure, you charge them even more for the brand NOW, but why not cut them some slack.. Generic is generic to them. We are happy to comply with your requirements but give us a reason to support it!

One of our major insurance carriers here corrupted their entire database and it STILL hasn’t been fixed. Their local support, who I call instead of the national support, STILL have no idea when it WILL be up and running again. And spending an hour plus for them to pick up the phone to tell me this is just SO nice too.

Excellent, PC! Also, those blood sucking PBM’s/Insurance Companies/Giant Drug Chains that siphon off my patients because YOU will not allow us to be a preferred provider in YOUR network….Oh yea, we hate you too!

Hello CVS/Caremark, this is Jane Doe #badge 1234 what is your NPI #. Rx #? Pt’s name and date of birth? Pt’s address? I do have their SAME city, state, and zip but a DIFFERENT street address, is the patient there? No? Sorry I cannot give you the correct eligibility information without the correct STREET ADDRESS………time=19 minutes 32 seconds wasted. Thank you for your help or whatever this was Jane, have a nice day.

Ditto PharmacyBurnt. Except that I’m trying to find out where the sick patient who’s just been admitted to the hospital has prescriptions filled. “Your NPI is not in our database. I’ll have to transfer you.” (ten minutes) “What is the patient’s number?” (ten minutes) “You don’t have the number?” (I wouldn’t be calling you to see if my patient has prescriptions filled at this mail-order pharmacy, now, would I, if I had a patient number… .) (ten more minutes)

If you called your refill in on Dec 30 th, it was billed to the insurance that you had then, even if you didn’t pick it up until Jan 4th. If you wanted it billed to your new insurance, you should have called it in after the 1 st. Now you want me to give you a refund, reverse -bill the claim and re -bill your new insurance. You have tripled the work that it takes to fill one prescription. I hate you.

Put me on the list of the haters of the desperate flu shot seekers! I would be happy to put out one of those red drinking cups filled with pre filled syringes. If you want a shot in 5 minutes, take one and stab yourself! Otherwise, you can wait until we bill your insurance, find out why the claim is not covered, fill out the consent form, make sure you have the VIS form. We will do this while filling prescriptions for folks who already have the flu, answering the phone, counseling patients, directing them to the bathroom, and hoping and praying that all rxs were typed and filled correctly. So please allow 15 to 20 minutes of your time to give you a shot that will provide immunity in 14 days, not in time for your plane trip tomorrow!

Insurance companies who issue cards with incorrect information!!! Had to call an insurance company 3x, not to mention a continuous back-and-forth with the pt before I finally got the correct insurance info.

And… from the patient’s perspective, I’m not too fond of the pharmacy tech who, after working there for more than a year, still screws up at least one thing every single time I’m there. It’s to the point that when I have a written prescription to drop off, if I see that she’s working, I wait and go back later to minimize the odds of her being involved. Unfortunately, that isn’t usually an option since I’m usually just picking up refills.If you dont receive the service you think you should, then leave the pharmacy. Thats the great thing about being free. you are free to move pharmacies if they dont measure up. Sorry the tech fails you every time.

I find it interesting as patient/consumer to read these articles and comments. They are educational and yes, even humourous in some instances. I do find it sad that the majority of patients, if I am to believe what I read, that there is a majority! of people out there who are just plain out stupid, lazy, non accountable, entitled (feel they are), and moronic in their expectations. There again, I have a small shoppe so yes … sadly I can believe it. However, being a patient/consumer, I can tell you that I have had my fair share of all the attributes that I have just described, in pharmacists and technicians. Quite recently in fact. They believed the doctor over me. They assumed the role of the doctor with me, judging me and treating as an addict, side eye and all. I was disrespected in having the pharmacist discuss my confidential information at the front counter, with other people directly behind me, within earshot. I took matters in hand and met directly with the pharmacist yesterday, for about an hour. He apologized and I believe him. What came out of this meeting was that I have an asshole, lying, backstabbing, inept doctor (which was proven in so many ways over the past 5 days). There are still honest people in the world. Don’t assume that I am lying to you, when you’ve never had that experience with me before, being a customer/patient for over 20 years. Check that dirty paint brush before smearing me with it. Inform me, educate me and you’ll have a pleasant, honest interaction with me. It goes both ways:)

The new military IDs for retiree/family members now have a special DEERS Benefits Number, rather than the sponsor’s SSN. The problem is that Tricare still works off of the SSN and don’t have the DEERS numbers in the system.

I found this out last year when I got a bill from the local hospital for a rather horrific amount along with the statement that we didn’t have coverage. I called them to see what went wrong, and was told that Tricare didn’t have a member with that number. I gave them the correct SSN and everything went through immediately.

Pharmacies, hospitals, and other “providers” near military installations have this figured out, but I’m sure that folks who only see Tricare a few times a year are still having issues. And now that Tricare is closing all its walk-in centers, and everything must be done by phone or e-mail, I don’t see it getting any easier for anyone.

My Disclaimer

This is a BLOG, written for entertainment purposes only. It is not a website for medical advice or drug information. I am a pharmacist, but I am not YOUR pharmacist. This site should never be used as a substitute for medical care. I do not have your medical history. If you ask Pharmacy Chick a question she will answer it at her convenience. I will not deliberately mislead you or give you wrong information, but I will probably not do exhaustive research either to verify its accuracy. If in doubt, please re-read the first two sentences of this paragraph.
I will never use anybody's actual name. If I use a name, it will be completly ficticious. I may likely have changed the gender of my subject as well. These events may have happened today or 1 year or more ago. If it sounds similar to you or somebody you know, its not. This stuff repeats itself a thousand times a day in pharmacies all over the world. I may even change some of the story to make a point.
If you like what I say, comment on it. I preview every comment before it is posted. I will not post any comment that is overtly rude, profane or remotely sniffs of commercial offering or spam. Do not ask me to endorse a particular product. I do not accept any kind of advertising.
So, there ya go! Happy Reading